WE have to give Tranmere Rovers credit. They played exceptionally well.

WE have to give Tranmere Rovers credit. They played exceptionally well. They stopped us passing and it's the first time this season we've been unable to pass the ball.

Tranmere thoroughly deserved to win this cup tie.

We didn't hold the ball up in attack and generally we were lacklustre.

That's the truth, I can't tell it any other way.

We made a good start by going ahead from a penalty. And I felt it was a penalty.

But we conceded an equaliser quickly - there was sloppy marking even though Paul Rideout took the chance well - and Tranmere's second was a d&#xC8;bacle.

At 1-1 it wasn't too bad and we were competing.

But all their team were exceptional and had a great attitude for 90 minutes.

We missed the two boys in attack ( Gavin Gordon and Robert Earnshaw), but much of that is credit to Tranmere Rovers.

Cardiff City's players had their glory in beating Leeds United and now that's in the past. We were never going to win the FA Cup, but we all know it would have been nice to make it into the fifth round and maybe go a little further.

It was one of those games. They happen sometimes and you have to learn from the experience-and make sure it is a oneoff-We gave Tranmere a second goal - that ball should have been cleared down the touchline. It was a silly one to give away.

It was a mistake and the player concerned (Des Hamilton) knows what he should have done. He's a good lad and he'll learn from that.

The fact that we took him off soon after was nothing to do with the error.

We needed to score a goal and we could not afford the luxury of three centre-backs and two wingbacks any longer.

We switched to a four at the back and worked to get players forward. We had to try to win, there was no point in doing anything else.

But we just didn't pass the ball well enough all day, we weren't allowed to by a Tranmere team who played exceptionally well.

We try to win every game, but now we have to look forward to the Brighton match.

Everybody was disappointed in the dressing room after the game. We were thoroughly beaten and that hasn't happened for a while. Tranmere looked a very good team on the day.

Peter Thorne is almost fit and when he plays again it will be like having a new player because he's been involved so few times so far. That hasn't been Peter's fault, but he has been hit hard by injuries.